Formatting MBP 15 for Boot Camp...and it shuts down!

[LarryP]

First off, I'm new to Macs. Have a MBP 15, 2.53/4g/360HDD aluminum body unit (about 10 months old) that I just got on EBay. While trying to use the Boot Camp program (and Mac Disk) to format the intended partition, the unit turned itself off! It was right in the middle of formatting. When I picked the unit up, it was extremely hot! I let it cool off, then tried to restart it. All I got was a black screen with a flashing DOS-like cursor in the upper left of the screen. I figured out how to get the Mac Disc out. Now that it's cooled off, I restart, get the normal white prescreen, the gratuitous few Mac "notes", then the screen goes black again (with the cursor) and stays there. Keystrokes don't make a difference. Need help because if this is something wrong with the unit, I need to return it. Otherwise, I'd like to get on with this thing. Thanks for any wisdom.

 

[p.luik]

Can you boot off off your install disc? Holding down C when restarting?

 

[LarryP]

Thanks for the tip. This has taken me back to the reinstallation of 10.5. But I still don't know why I couldn't format the partition. Plus the overheating seems extreme! Also, OS wants to reinstall now, but will not give me a destination to reinstall it to.